Forever
by Shimizu Hitomi
Summary: One-shot. Before they fell in love with each other, they had fallen in love with go. It was go that brought them together, go that awakened the passion within them, and go that drives them forward still, ever to the future...


**Disclaimer: I don't own Hikaru no Go.**

**Notes: **Congratulations to Cho U and Kobayashi Izumi on their engagement! ^_______^ (The current male and female Honinbos respectively. They plan to tie the knot next spring. Everyone say, "Awwwww…")

**Inspirations:** Aishuu's "Shaped Lives" and "Eternities in Autumn Skies." (Tho this comes nowhere near the quality of those pieces.) And also one of the short essays on my application. Seriously. (__ stooooooopid application…)

                                                                                    ~ Forever ~

            The first time I ever held a go stone, I felt nothing. The shiny black piece felt smooth and cool in my awkward grasp, but still, that was all it was: a stone. I had seen smoother, prettier pebbles on the beach beside the stormy sea I went to every summer.

            The first time I ever sat in front of a goban, I felt nothing. The wooden surface was dented with years of use and the lines were dark and endless, like the graph paper we used during math class. And I thought that even the old table back at home in the kitchen was lovelier than the block of wood that stood before me.

            The first time I ever played, I felt nothing. Go was just a game, no different from monopoly or tic-tac-toe, and games were meant to be enjoyed, a form of relaxation during spare time. I had much better things to do with my time, and how could I enjoy something I could hardly even understand?

            But then… I saw your eyes. And they were dark and stormy and held things so mysterious and complex that I thought I would drown, just gazing into them. And you were cool and serene and untouchable yet burning hot with some secret inner fire I could not see and I was frightened, because I could not comprehend. Because nothing made sense and yet everything made sense, all at once.

           And then… I saw your father play. And the stones came alive at his very touch, as if his hands had awoken some deep, sacred magic within them, and each move shone as brilliantly as the sun as it clicked into place. And all I could do was sit, watching, mesmerized by the ancient power held in those stones.

            I… I wanted to make the stones come alive, shine with the same brilliance I had seen. I wanted to…

            And suddenly, go was no longer just a game, but a beautiful, passionate struggle. A desperate struggle that I would sacrifice anything, everything for.

            And though I was blind before, my eyes were suddenly opened and I _saw_, for the first time in my life. The goban was the universe, and the stones the stars, and there were no limits. And the intricate dance of black and white patterns, ever shifting, was the most beautiful sight I had ever witnessed.

            Darkness and light, wood and stone, circle and line… It was a game of contradictions and balance, yin and yang. Nothing made sense yet everything felt right and I loved the irony of it all. I loved it. I loved go. I loved…

            For the first time in my life, I _loved_…

            _I will be your sun, and you will be my moon, and our light will drown out even the brightest stars…_

            Always, when I search, in go I find my answer. Always, when I am troubled, in my go I find peace. Always, when I cry, in my go I see your smile.

            In go, I am free…

            To soar, to dream, to love…

            _I want to play many many games, from now on. I want to play go forever and ever…_

            Because go changes with time and yet remains constant forever. Because go _is_ forever, and the struggle endless.

            Beautiful.

            So beautiful.

            And now when I clutch the stones in my hand, I feel the cool, calm solidness that is in your eyes, your soul. When I sit before a goban I see in the dents and the delicate grains and the endless black lines the path we have treaded together, and will tread forever through all of eternity. And when I sit before you, playing, matching you move for move, the stones come alive in my hands and I see only the endless patterns of black and white shining brightly in a vast endless universe that is ours and for us alone and I see your eyes, always your eyes, and I know that go is me and I am you and you are go and that is all that matters…

            Because go is everything, and it is forever.

_Owari_

Too many go metaphors? Too bad. Sucks for you if you don't like go. But really, HnG is about go, and go plays such an integral part of Hikaru and Akira's relationship that you can't leave it out without making it extremely unbelievable or OOC. So there. That's my lame defense for all of us writers who actually *like* to include go in our works. :-P

Shortish and really badly written… but… yeah… ^_^ Could you at least tell whose point of view it was? (Tho it could easily be anyone else's, really.) This is dedicated to all the go-playing couples out there, both from the anime and in real life. ^_^ (Hikaru and Akira, Jiang "Jujo" and Rui Naiwei, Cho and Kobayashi, etc…) For more information on real professional go players go to gobase.org.


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